- Franklyn Germán
Infobox MLB player
width = 150
name=Franklyn German
position=Relief pitcher
team=Chicago White Sox
number=--
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1980|1|20
birthplace=San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
debutdate=September 7
debutyear=2002
debutteam=Detroit Tigers
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=9-7
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=4.25
stat3label=Strikeout s
stat3value=114
teams=
*Detroit Tigers (by|2002-by|2005)
*Florida Marlins (by|2006)
*Texas Rangers (by|2008)Franklyn Miguel Germán Madé (born
January 20 ,1980 in San Cristóbal,Dominican Republic ) is aright-handed relief pitcher in theChicago White Sox organization. He is a particularly large man for a pitcher, standing 6 ft 7 in (2.04 m) tall and weighing 298 lb, which lends him a degree of batter intimidation, like most taller-than-average pitchers possess.His pitch arsenal includes a blazing, 100+ mph
fastball , and a very effective offspeed pitch due to his large stature. He works mostly in middle relief and sometimes as a set-up man for the team's closer, although many baseball pundits expect that he'll become a closer himself within the next few seasons.Early career
Germán was acquired by the
Detroit Tigers onJuly 5 , mlby|2002, in a three-team trade between the Tigers,Oakland Athletics , andNew York Yankees . Germán,first baseman Carlos Peña , and pitcherJeremy Bonderman were traded by Oakland to Detroit in exchange for pitcherJeff Weaver , whom Oakland then traded to New York for pitcherTed Lilly , outfielderJohn-Ford Griffin , and minor league pitcher Jason Arnold. Germán never played for Oakland, though he did spend mlby|1997-2002 in their rookie league, SIngle-A, and Double-A minor league affiliates before being traded.During his rookie season (mlby|2003), he was known for his questionable ability to get batters out and as a result was generally unpopular with Detroit Tigers fans. Accordingly, he was subject to large amounts of criticism from the long-suffering Tigers fans, who at the time hadn't seen their team finish with a winning record since mlby|1993.
Current career
Germán's inconsistency on the mound was in contrast to the Tigers' two primary starters at the time, Bonderman and lefty
Mike Maroth , who were regarded to possess Major League talent, but frequently suffered from insufficient run support on a team in the midst of having the worst season inAmerican League history—that year, the Tigers set a new record for total losses (119), eclipsing the previous record (117) held by the mlby|1916Philadelphia Athletics . After spending much of the mlby|2004 season on the Tigers' Triple-A minor league team, theToledo Mud Hens , his form on the mound improved greatly, and he made the Tigers' by|2005 opening day roster.After a mediocre spring training in mlby|2006, the Tigers left Germán unprotected on the waiver wire by designating him for another assignment to Toledo. He didn't clear waivers, however, and on
April 4 , 2006, he was claimed off waivers by theFlorida Marlins , and earned a spot on their opening day roster.Germán became a
free agent after the 2006 season, and onNovember 17 , 2006, signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.Germán pitched in the Rangers mlby|2008 season opener against the
Seattle Mariners onMarch 31 , 2008. It was the first time Germán had pitched outside the minors since 2006. He was designated for assignment by the Rangers onMay 21 , 2008, and onMay 30 declined a minor-league assignment and became a free agent.On
June 4 , 2008, Germán signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was traded to theChicago White Sox onAugust 11 , and assigned to Triple-A Charlotte.Personal life
Germán is married and has one child with his wife, Luisa. They spend their off-seasons residing in
Palenque, Dominican Republic Germán usually plays for
Leones del Escogido in theDominican Winter Baseball League , and played for the World Team during the 2002All-Star Futures Game , which was won, 5-1, by the World Team."Germán" is pronounced using the soft Spanish G, making his surname sound like "Hairmon" when spoken. His Marlins uniform did not include the accent mark over the "a", so many spectators unaware of the mechanics of the Spanish language refer to him as "German", as if referring to someone from
Germany .External links
*
* [http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061117&content_id=1742670&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex: Franklyn German inks a minor league deal with Rangers]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5341 ESPN.com: Franklyn Germán]
* [http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=407883 Florida Marlins: Player Information - Franklyn Germán]
* [http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=2829&hubname=mlb TSN.ca: MLB: Franklyn Germán]
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